ABSTRACT
As three of the authors of this book have previously argued, university is usually so closely imagined with schooling that the majority of the young people in our study rejected the idea of going there (McMahon, Harwood & Hickey-Moody, 2015). For instance, when asked if he would consider university, Deon from Jonestown, a severely disadvantaged urban area in a state capital city, gave this emphatic answer, ‘No. I hate school. I’ve done 13 years of school and I don’t need any more; I’m quite all right thank you’ (Deon, aged 18, Jonestown). The enormity of these feelings mustn’t be overlooked if we are to grasp the intensities that feelings weave into educational disadvantages and appreciate their consequences for educational futures.
